It is that time of year again! It’s getting colder, the holidays are here, and hunting is upon us. People have been hunting since the beginning of time to provide needed food and clothes for their family. As time went on, the need to hunt dwindled and it turned into a hobby – or in some families – a tradition.
This tradition connects hunters to the land and to their ancestors. Most local people don’t need to worry about finding land to hunt on because they hunt on their family’s land. Kason Blood expresses, “I’m incredibly grateful to hunt on land that other generations before me did.”
In my family, hunting is a tradition. The kids grew up watching their parents leave at 4 or 5 in the morning to go hunting, and once in a while, they would come back with game. The kids couldn’t wait to go hunting too. Once my siblings and cousins started to grow up, Big Hoyt, my grandpa, decided that there was not enough land to accommodate everyone, so he built a 100 acre camp. At first, this camp was intended just for the Darby family, but as the family grew, so did the camp. Big Hoyt explains that he loves having “all the friends that come to camp and seeing all the kids.”
In the Darby-Roy family, even though everyone hunts, the primary focus is on making sure that the kids get a deer. Randy Roy, who after years of hunting got this first deer last year, “was happier to see my niece and nephew get a deer than me.”
Hunting is not just about shooting a big deer every year – even though it is nice to shoot one – it is about the experience and what you learn from hunting: the freedom, patience, emotions, and excitement that come along with it. This excitement isn’t just for the particular hunter, it’s for everybody, no matter who gets a deer.
Randy’s advice for younger hunters is, “Don’t get discouraged; keep trying; you will come across one eventually.” It takes time and effort. Just because you don’t get one every year doesn’t mean that you will never succeed. Hoyt reminds younger hunters to “Practice, practice, practice.” There’s always something to learn and work on.
You can never be too good at hunting.
